* Will his SONA sufficiently address political, economic and social issues?
President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi‘s next week Monday State of the Nation Address (SONA) is likely to be more politically oriented than address the diverse challenges that the country faces currently.
Reading from the prevailing atmosphere, Botswana has already entered into what is termed the 'silly season' because political parties are gearing themselves for next year general election. All political parties have started going at each other’s throats, making all kinds of promises, accusations and counter accusations.
It is likely the SONA is also going to have more emphasis on what should be expected in the next financial year and what has been achieved so far.
In fact, three words summarise what President Masisi will focus on, political, economic and social issues. President Masisi has to satisfactorily address some of these problems by indicating what his government is going to do to resolve them.
Certainly, this will be his last SONA before the 2024 general election. It also comes just before the last financial year. The next financial year starting on 1st April is going to transit into the October 2024 general elections.
On the political front, Masisi will try to wrap up his achievements over the past five years especially considering what they had promised in their 2019 campaign manifesto. One of the challenges the country is facing is
implementation of special projects and policies.
There are projects that should be implemented, but for some reason are still to be implemented. Francistown-Nata Road is among the projects which have been officially announced as priorities but yet to start.
Masisi will also talk about the 2024 general election in terms of how government is preparing for the mammoth task. He is expected to encourage the nation to not only prepare, but participate in the general election.
Already there is a lot that has been done. The Delimitation Commission has completed its job, and constituencies have been redrawn. The voter registration however, started on a wrong footing as the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was forced to postpone it after the UDC successfully interdicted the electoral management body to allow its agents to observe the registration processes.
Masisi is expected to share with the nation his recommendations, and what will be implemented out of the findings of the Presidential Constitutional Review Commission into the Constitution of Botswana.
Economy
Botswana is not growing at the requisite rate (six percent per annum) that would allow it to attain Vision 2036 goals and its quest to be an upper income country by 2036. The projected growth for this year was down to at least three percent. Masisi will say what his government is doing to grow the economy.
Another issue is the fiscal challenge. This year is going to be tough as the projected revenue has not yet been reached due to a slowdown in diamond sales. The country however, received funds from SACU. If they are going to accelerate project implementation next financial year, that will need to be balanced against the fiscal constraints. Otherwise, the result will be a huge budget deficit.
Cost of living has increased - it has become difficult for ordinary citizens to buy simple groceries, petrol, and other commodities, as inflation goes up because of adjustment in prices of fuel. There is also a challenge of unemployment which is stubbornly high, especially involving the youth. Even relief programmes such as Ipelegeng fall far short to address the problem at hand.
Although Government has done a lot in terms of social programmes, the farming sector is battered by drought as a result of lack of rainfall.
President Masisi will also turn his attention to project implementation. There is a concept called Development Manager- its aim is to push backlog of outstanding projects even before NDP 11 was consolidated into the
Transitional National Development Plan (TNDP). The Development Manager‘s duty is to make sure that next financial year is a front loading of all these projects, some have said Botswana will be a construction site next year, with more construction projects being undertaken.
President Masisi will also talk about digitalisation and how government is transforming to e-economy and e-services.
Masisi has to allay fears regarding perception of corruption in public procurement, which is flying from all directions especially whenever there is a big tender that needs to be delivered. He is expected to clarify the checks and balances in place to ensure that public procurement is not contaminated in any way.
Masisi’s SONA will not be complete if he does not talk about what has been achieved under the diamond negotiations and new mining projects. He will also talk about his government’s efforts to improve on power generation. Recently a power plant was launched in Mmaphashalala, another Gas Plan under the Australian company, Botala, will soon be opened near Serowe.
On social matters, Masisi must talk about crime which has escalated at an alarming rate beyond the burglary and common theft. The country is riddled with fraudsters who consistently cheat people out of their hard-earned money.
There is also the suicide and homicide, which also have lately hit law enforcement units such as the Botswana Defence Force and the Police Service.
Reading from the prevailing atmosphere, Botswana has already entered into what is termed the 'silly season' because political parties are gearing themselves for next year general election. All political parties have started going at each other’s throats, making all kinds of promises, accusations and counter accusations.
It is likely the SONA is also going to have more emphasis on what should be expected in the next financial year and what has been achieved so far.
In fact, three words summarise what President Masisi will focus on, political, economic and social issues. President Masisi has to satisfactorily address some of these problems by indicating what his government is going to do to resolve them.
Certainly, this will be his last SONA before the 2024 general election. It also comes just before the last financial year. The next financial year starting on 1st April is going to transit into the October 2024 general elections.
On the political front, Masisi will try to wrap up his achievements over the past five years especially considering what they had promised in their 2019 campaign manifesto. One of the challenges the country is facing is
implementation of special projects and policies.
There are projects that should be implemented, but for some reason are still to be implemented. Francistown-Nata Road is among the projects which have been officially announced as priorities but yet to start.
Masisi will also talk about the 2024 general election in terms of how government is preparing for the mammoth task. He is expected to encourage the nation to not only prepare, but participate in the general election.
Already there is a lot that has been done. The Delimitation Commission has completed its job, and constituencies have been redrawn. The voter registration however, started on a wrong footing as the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was forced to postpone it after the UDC successfully interdicted the electoral management body to allow its agents to observe the registration processes.
Masisi is expected to share with the nation his recommendations, and what will be implemented out of the findings of the Presidential Constitutional Review Commission into the Constitution of Botswana.
Economy
Botswana is not growing at the requisite rate (six percent per annum) that would allow it to attain Vision 2036 goals and its quest to be an upper income country by 2036. The projected growth for this year was down to at least three percent. Masisi will say what his government is doing to grow the economy.
Another issue is the fiscal challenge. This year is going to be tough as the projected revenue has not yet been reached due to a slowdown in diamond sales. The country however, received funds from SACU. If they are going to accelerate project implementation next financial year, that will need to be balanced against the fiscal constraints. Otherwise, the result will be a huge budget deficit.
Cost of living has increased - it has become difficult for ordinary citizens to buy simple groceries, petrol, and other commodities, as inflation goes up because of adjustment in prices of fuel. There is also a challenge of unemployment which is stubbornly high, especially involving the youth. Even relief programmes such as Ipelegeng fall far short to address the problem at hand.
Although Government has done a lot in terms of social programmes, the farming sector is battered by drought as a result of lack of rainfall.
President Masisi will also turn his attention to project implementation. There is a concept called Development Manager- its aim is to push backlog of outstanding projects even before NDP 11 was consolidated into the
Transitional National Development Plan (TNDP). The Development Manager‘s duty is to make sure that next financial year is a front loading of all these projects, some have said Botswana will be a construction site next year, with more construction projects being undertaken.
President Masisi will also talk about digitalisation and how government is transforming to e-economy and e-services.
Masisi has to allay fears regarding perception of corruption in public procurement, which is flying from all directions especially whenever there is a big tender that needs to be delivered. He is expected to clarify the checks and balances in place to ensure that public procurement is not contaminated in any way.
Masisi’s SONA will not be complete if he does not talk about what has been achieved under the diamond negotiations and new mining projects. He will also talk about his government’s efforts to improve on power generation. Recently a power plant was launched in Mmaphashalala, another Gas Plan under the Australian company, Botala, will soon be opened near Serowe.
On social matters, Masisi must talk about crime which has escalated at an alarming rate beyond the burglary and common theft. The country is riddled with fraudsters who consistently cheat people out of their hard-earned money.
There is also the suicide and homicide, which also have lately hit law enforcement units such as the Botswana Defence Force and the Police Service.
